


Booklovers

by NinjaInTraining



Category: Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, I'll add more tags later, M/M, Rating May Change, leeteuk owns a bookstore, shindong loves buying books
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-03-30 02:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19033042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjaInTraining/pseuds/NinjaInTraining
Summary: Jungsoo owns a second-hand bookshop and every day his favourite customer, Donghee, visits him and they talk about books.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maeryeok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeryeok/gifts).



> First of all: thank you so much for wanting to read my fic :)))) This is the first fic I've written with Super Junior and the second fic I've posted. This will be a chaptered fic and I honestly don't know how long it will end up being but as of right now I have almost finished two chapters. Enjoy!

“He’s late,” Jungsoo absentmindedly thinks while arranging the new books on the bookshelf. “He’s usually here by now.”

Jungsoo looks at the clock on the wall behind the counter. It’s almost 20 past four. Definitely late.

“Maybe he won’t come today,” he thinks. The thought makes him a bit sad. He was looking forward to meeting him. Oh, well.

But just as Jungsoo is about to accept that his favourite customer won’t come to the store today, the bell by the door jingles. He looks up to find the familiar face of Donghee, an avid book lover and Jungsoo’s favourite regular. Jungsoo smiles.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show up today,” Jungsoo exclaimed, only half-joking. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t miss seeing your pretty face for the world,” Donghee jokes back. The statement makes Jungsoo feel warm all over. He knows it’s only a joke but he relishes in the knowledge that his company is desired.

“Coffee?” Jungsoo offers him, which Donghee politely accepts. He then leaves the room to fetch a pot of freshly brewed caffeine from the small kitchen facility accompanying the bookstore. He hands Donghee his cup, knowing exactly how he likes it: a splash of milk, no sugar. 

Donghee gratefully takes the cup, spending a few moments warming his hands on the hot brew. The store is a bit chilly, Jungsoo notes, but there’s not much he can do about it in the cold late-autumn-almost-winter weather.

Behind the counter is a small table with just enough room for two people to sit at. This tiny table has become their daily refuge from the outside world, where they can discuss whatever their minds desire in peace, which turns out to be books more often than not.

These discussions have become Jungsoo’s favourite time of the day. They allow him to get lost in the world of books in a whole new way, a pastime he has known since he was able to read. Books always manage to bring him peace, in one way or another. 

He met Donghee for the first time around a year ago, when he moved into the neighbourhood. Their daily meetings have been going on for for a few months now. They began as small conversations, often about some book or other Donghee brought to the register, but soon turned into whole debates. To Jungsoo’s delight he found out that Donghee is well versed in literature, making it possible for them to delve deep into the books, their meaning, and coming up with various analyses.

“So, what will it be today?” Jungsoo asks him. “Something caught your fancy recently?” He jokes.

This is normally how these sessions begin, by one of them asking which book they would like to discuss this day. Today Donghee chooses science fiction, a genre they seldom talk about.

“Have you read War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells? It’s really good.”

…

As usual they talk for hours, only disturbed by the occasional customer. Before long it’s six o’clock and Jungsoo has to close the shop. Donghee waits for him while he finishes up with the register, walks one last round through the bookshop, and turns off the lights. This has become a routine for them as well; Donghee waiting for Jungsoo to close up and then walking together towards Jungsoo’s bus stop. Sometimes Donghee waits with him but other times, like today, he continues to his own home.

They wave their goodbyes and Jungsoo’s bus arrives within a few minutes. His home is only a few stops away but he prefers the bus to walking, especially when he has to carry around the day’s earnings in cash. 

Fortunately he doesn’t have to walk a long distance when he has exited the bus. He’ll have to remember to bring gloves tomorrow. It takes him a while to fish his keys out of his coat pocket with his cold-stiff fingers but once he does he wastes no time unlocking his front door and scurrying inside. He is greeted by an excited ball of white fluff, having heard her barking even before he opened the door.

“Hi, Shimkoong!” He exclaims trying to convey his happiness at seeing her through these two words. The first thing he does after removing his coat is to pick her up and carry her to their living room. 

Sitting down in the sofa he turns the TV on and surfs the channels until he finds something remotely interesting. All the while wrestling with Shimkoong for the remote. He finally settles on a station that is broadcasting some old romance movie. He doesn’t really find it very interesting but it’s something to play in the background while he searches for something that can be considered dinner.

After a few minutes he returns to the living room with a combination of a few heated leftovers on a plate. He sits on the sofa besides Shimkoong, who is now peacefully napping on one of the sofa’s cushions. 

The movie is now at its peak, with the main character finally kissing his love interest. The kiss itself is not any more interesting than any other movie kiss but something about it makes Jungsoo suddenly feel very lonely. He hasn’t kissed anyone like that in a while. Actually, he can’t even remember when he last kissed another human being. Shimkoong doesn’t count. 

With a sigh he stands up from the sofa and heads to the kitchen to clean up after his chaste meal. It’s only 9 but he heads to bed anyway. He doesn’t feel like watching any more movies or finding some book to read. Of course, he could try and contact one of his friends to chat, but he really doesn’t feel like talking to anyone. Well, anyone but Donghee. He never _doesn’t_ want to chat with Donghee. 

He sighs again. He really wishes Donghee were here to talk the loneliness away. Oh, well. Nothing else to do but go to sleep. Hopefully his dreams will have happier thoughts in store for him.

By 10 he is already drifting away into the blissful darkness, with Shimkoong sleeping soundly between his feet after sneaking into his bed. Again.


	2. Chapter 2

So soft. His lips. Softer than he could ever have imagined. And so perfect against his own. His fingers woven in silk-like strands and his body feeling only the heat of the arms encircling him. His mind empty of everything but the person surrounding him, filling all his senses. _Donghee_.

I takes Jungsoo a few moments to float back into consciousness, and a few more to process the images his brain had conjured while he was sleeping. He runs the scene over in his mind a couple of times before _fuck_! He just had a dream about kissing one of his best friends. No. A dream about _making out_ with one of his best friends. _Shit_. 

His face heats up in embarrassment ( ~~and maybe something else too~~ ) before he thrusts his covers aside, startling a sleeping Shimkoong, and rushes to the bathroom. A cold shower is definitely in order.

By the time he exits the shower and starts drying off he feels considerably less mortified. Still he can't completely remove the memory of the dream from his mind. It felt so real. Donghee's lips had felt so real and... _nope_! He's not going there!

He still has two hours before he’s supposed to open the shop at 10 so he decides to try and make himself some breakfast. He’s never been very good at this cooking thing so he’s not surprised when his omelette turns out adequate at best. All through the breakfast he tries (and fails) not to think about his dream. The more he tries to forget it, the more it becomes engraved in his brain.

When he at last makes his way to the store thoughts of Donghee are filing his mind. And he can’t get rid of them! He sighs and hopes busying himself in the store will allow him to forget about the dream, if only for a few minutes.

The first thing to do when he arrives is to make sure everything is in order before customers can begin to arrive. He walks around the store and checks all the bookshelves in order to see if a book might be in the wrong section or the alphabetical order has gone askew. 

He still has about 20 minutes until he is supposed to open so he starts unpacking the boxes with the new shipment that arrived yesterday afternoon. It always gives him a tiny thrill looking at all the new books for his collection. Although all the books in the store are essentially for sale, he still looks at them as his own large book collection. Most of them are very old, some having been published a few hundred years ago, but there are also a few newer books in between. He tries to keep them an even mix so that everyone can find something suitable to their taste.

After making sure everything is in order he heads to the kitchen corner and boils some water for coffee before unlocking the front door and turning the sign to “Open”. Even if there come times when there are minutes, even hours, between customers he is still content. His shop is like his own little sanctuary where he is safe from the influences of the outside world. He never gets tired of sitting behind the counter reading a book and sipping from a cup of coffee.

The day is not a busy one, and Jungsoo spends most of it making headway with his latest infatuation, _The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle_ by Murakami. Before he knows it it’s almost four and he’s expecting Donghee to enter the shop any minute now. At this realisation memories of the dream pop up and he feels the embarrassment creep in, despite his hopes of forgetting it.

Sure enough, the bell jingles and in comes the smiling face of Donghee. At least that’s all Jungsoo can see of him from his position at the table behind the counter. Jungsoo’s eyes immediately focus on the smiling lips. The lips he dreamt about last night. They look so... _plump_ is the first word that emerges. He will deny anyone who asks but he does wonder whether they would feel as soft as they did in his dream. He almost feels the urge to kiss him right then and there to test his theory, but stops it before it can fully emerge.

He realises that he’s been staring at Donghee’s lips for at least a full minute without saying anything, not even greeting the other man. Donghee only seems amused by that, though. He’s looking at Jungsoo with that glint in his eyes which means he’s about to crack some joke or other. 

“Speechless, I see,” he says in a mock-serious tone. “Too stunned by my handsome features, I presume.”

Jungsoo manages to produce a laugh, though a rather strangled-sounding one. Donghee gives no indication of having heard the awkward nature of it and proceeds to tell Jungsoo about his day. 

With every word exchanged with him, Jungsoo feels increasingly more at ease and in no time their conversation flows just as easily as is usual during their daily meetings.

When it is time for Jungsoo to close the shop and for Donghee to head home, Jungsoo finds he doesn’t want to stop talking with him just yet. So he does the first thing that comes to mind: he asks Donghee out for drinks. Which he accepts, of course.

There is a cozy bar-slash-coffeehouse on the same street as Jungsoo's bookstore so they head there. The bar is practically empty since it's still so early in the evening but despite the early hour they both order beers and take a seat in one of the sofas in a dim and (Jungsoo hates to think so but it's only a fact) romantically lit corner.

Jungsoo knows he is a lightweight but the scene makes him rather nervous so he ignores his reasonable side and orders more beer when he finishes the first one. Then another one. He knows he shouldn't but the buzzing sensation filling his head feels _really_ good. 

The rest of the evening passes in a dimly lit blur and before he knows he's inside his apartment, Donghee easily supporting his weight with one arm and leading him towards his bed. When he lies down, he feels the weight of Shimkoong leaning on his arm and he draws her to him in an embrace, reminiscent of a small child hugging a teddy bear. He hears Donghee quietly exit the bedroom but he is too tired to dwell on it and soon he is sleeping soundly with Shimkoong in his arms.


End file.
